The only reason we have any Walruses left is because they were smart enough to abandon beaches and go hang out on see ice to avoid the commercial ivory hunters. There are stories from around 1900 of thousands of walruses hanging out on the Alaskan shore and the unique ways polar bears would hunt them. But hey don't let a successful conservation effort stop you from whining.

J. Frank Parnell:Just GIS walrus and you'll see the vast majority of them are on beaches. Often congregating in large groups like this. I'm not sure why this is considered unusual by these alleged 'experts'.

J. Frank Parnell:Just GIS walrus and you'll see the vast majority of them are on beaches. Often congregating in large groups like this. I'm not sure why this is considered unusual by these alleged 'experts'.

It's way easier to take pretty pictures of walruses on beaches than it is to take pictures of them on ice floes. Much the way that most pictures you see of deep sea fish are of them on the deck of a boat, not 30,000ft down.

adamatari:The "not our fault, not a problem" crowd is out in spades today.

I honestly wonder if anything would change if there was an ice-free summer. How much do things have to change before we acknowledge there is a problem?

When those fools are personally affected, of course. That's the problem with the "fark you, got mine" crowd - no empathy, no imagination, and no planning, because, hey, it's not their fault and not their problem.

Until it is, of course. Then, like their role models in Congress, they immediately dissemble and deflect while trying to find a way to get what they want even if it screws everybody else.

Tom_Slick:The only reason we have any Walruses left is because they were smart enough to abandon beaches and go hang out on see ice to avoid the commercial ivory hunters. There are stories from around 1900 of thousands of walruses hanging out on the Alaskan shore and the unique ways polar bears would hunt them. But hey don't let a successful conservation effort stop you from whining.

Yet on the internet, you can't find one scientific journal reporting it.

This happens every year. Once the ice melts the bears and walruses hang out on land until the ice comes back. The bears occasionally try to eat a few walruses but mostly just stop eating until they can hunt on the ice again. It's pretty much the only time that male polar bears stop hunting and it's the only time they interact with another male without trying to kill it. As for the walruses they just hang out in bunches and watch out for bears.

The concern is that with there being more ice free time each year that the bears will starve. It's a valid concern, but I think that the bears will get more aggressive towards the walruses. One medium sized walrus can sustain a bear for quite a while.